As a sophomore in high school, Eric Snyder was about to come out. But then he realized the Boy Scouts had a discriminatory policy against gay and bisexual scouts, forcing him to remain in the closet. Even though Eric couldn't be openly gay, he decided that his Eagle Scout project would be.

By acknowledging -- maybe for the first time -- that gay kids can and do correctly identify their orientation, the Mormon Church is poised to make powerful changes to protect the health of young gay Mormon boys, helping to keep our gay youth safer and happier than ever before.

I don't mind when people use the Bible as their Source and Authority on matters of spiritual consequence, but I do have a problem with people who choose only those verses that suit their purpose, then ignore anything and everything that does not.

Ultimately, the Boy Scouts of America is a private organization and has the right to define its own membership. However, they should be very careful about defining moral behavior as synonymous with a heterosexual orientation and banning gay adult leaders.

The BSA knows that their policy change regarding gay scouts is simply not good enough. I'm asking them to allow LGBT parents like me to participate in their children's lives. Just because the BSA has the legal right to deny LGBT people membership doesn't mean that it is morally right.

I thought it would be self-evident that the end of a 103-year-old ban on gay youth in a group that's a cultural touchstone of American life is something to applaud, affirm and even celebrate. Judging by the reaction from some members of the LGBT community, though, it appears I was wrong.

We've heard this "good first step" argument before. Although "don't ask, don't tell" was ostensibly an improvement on a blanket ban on honorable gay service members, it came with a steep price, because it portrayed gay people as inferior and a threat to the cohesion of the Armed Forces.

I am a Boy Scout. As a matter of fact, I'm an Eagle Scout. And yet I cannot continue to serve the organization that played a large part in shaping who I am today. Why? Because of whom I love, which apparently negates the values that were ingrained in me during my years of scouting.